A new restaurant is coming to the Olde City area of downtown Philadelphia. The name of the restaurant is Amina’s Restaurant and Lounge, at 104 Chestnut Street. This is an African American, female-owned business. The owner is Felicia Wilson. She has also successfully operated several other businesses in Philadelphia, including a beauty salon, barbershop, and a daycare center. She recently sold the hair business. However, she continues to operate the daycare business and another business as well.
Wilson’s goal had been to host a grand opening for Amina’s in mid-June of this year. However, due to some unforeseen challenges, that plan was put on hold. Wilson says she’s determined to work through the hurdles that are in front of her and to open in the Fall of this year.
Let me just share some of the challenges or hurdles that have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Then I ask you our awesome SCOOP Readers, to send me an email, and tell me if you “smell” anything strange in the air around Olde City. My email address is theramartin10@gmail.com.
Felicia Wilson shared what she’s been experiencing as a new business owner in the 100 block of Chestnut Street. “Most recently, I got a “Stop Work” permit from the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I). I also have not yet been able to obtain a liquor license from the Liquor Control Board, so things have been put on hold.
“Amina means ‘A Goddess Warrior,’ and I know that’s why I was led to name my restaurant Amina’s Restaurant and Lounge. It’s also the name my husband and I gave to our youngest daughter. It’s as if I knew even before I stepped into 104 Chestnut Street that I might have some struggles here. The name Amina will be a reminder to me every day to have strength and endurance to win the race. I want my restaurant, like my other businesses, to be successful.”
Wilson added, “As a business owner, I must say I have never before had the kinds of stipulations put on me, like the ones being put on me now. I have outlined my plans to the Olde City Business District (the area business association) and to my direct neighbor, who uses his property for rental purposes, about what kind of restaurant and lounge I would like to operate. Unfortunately, some of the neighbors in the immediate area and the area business association are protesting the opening of my establishment. I’m anticipating a hearing date in July in terms of the Liquor License, but nothing may be confirmed until mid to late September from the Liquor Control Board. Statistics show that restaurants that can also serve alcoholic beverages have better survival rates than restaurants that serve no alcohol.
In reference to my direct neighbor or any members of the Olde City Business District who may have concerns about my business, I hope that they will be fair with me. Judge me by my reputation and success with my other businesses. Don’t stifle my business or its uniqueness. Let Amina Restaurant and Lounge shine, like other eateries along Chestnut Street and Walnut and Spruce and Pine, in Olde City.”
We’ve had one meeting with them (The Olde City District) around my application for a liquor license. The Olde City District had certain things they wanted in place. In our effort to move forward and just get opened, some of the things the Olde City District has asked of us we agreed to. We decided that we can live with these things. We want to open. We can reapply for certain permits down the line. However, to be truthful, I have felt like some of the things the Olde City District has asked me to forfeit from my business are things they would not have asked “other” businesses to forgo.
For instance, the Olde City District does not want me to invite live Jazz Bands or any kind of live performers to do a show or a set at my restaurant. They want me to provide ONLY “background” prerecorded music as entertainment for my guests. I would not be allowed to have a live D.J. at my establishment. If two people wanted to get up and dance at my establishment, after eating dinner, that would not be allowed. You need an amusement license for that, and the Olde City District does not want me to have that license. If someone wanted to come in and play the piano, that would not be allowed.
Wilson continued, “This property where I’m opening Amina’s has been vacant for eight years. You would think other business owners along that block and in the area would be happy to see a new viable business open at 104 Chestnut Street. Prior to the location being vacant for the last eight years, it was in operation for the last twenty-five years as a restaurant. It was called The Mexican Post. I have been told, by some people who know the history of the businesses in Olde City, that the Mexican Post from time to time had a few patrons who got unruly and started fights in front of the establishment. “I feel like the history and behaviors from some patrons of the past, at the Mexican Post, are being unfairly passed off on me and my business isn’t even officially opened yet, which is 100% unfair.”
The head of Olde City District reportedly told Ms. Wilson it’s not the Olde City District that’s holding up her licensing it’s her neighbor. Felicia Wilson stated, “Her neighbor is the main one giving me a hard time. He personally hired his own private attorney to fight me getting a liquor license. All of his actions seem to say that he doesn’t want me there because I’m Black. If I were to get a liquor license, he wants us to stop selling alcohol at 9 pm. He doesn’t want my establishment to be allowed to have audio speakers in our ceiling. No audio speakers on poles in our dining room. Where does he want us to have our speakers and audio system? I don’t understand. He has even tried to select the genre of music we can play inside my establishment.
Some of the specific requirements for me to have Amina’s Restuarant at this location are: Out the door by 10 pm. He’s trying to say this makes sense based on the operation of other restaurants in the Olde City District. This I know is not true. No one has told Steven Star or any of the other restauranteers in the area any of these things, but you want us to be closed by 10, last call at 9 pm. No loitering on the sidewalks, including smoking. Mind you, smoking is legal outside. No lines outside or admission charges. No noise impacting surrounding neighbors. No speakers hung in ceilings, on stands, or on the floor. The front door to the establishment must be kept closed to avoid noise going into the street. No live music. No D.J.’s, Club Music, M.C.’s, electronic music to house music. That’s dictating the genre. I am to withdraw my petition for an assembly license and withdraw my petition for an amusement license. I must be clear that it is not an event space, and I cannot rent it to out- side operators.
Long story short, it’s out there in my business community, a question of whether I, as the tenant at 104 Chestnut Street, opening Amina Restaurant and Lounge, will operate appropriately if granted a liquor license. It’s as if the “decision-makers” and a few neighbors have already prejudged me and my business operation and have decided if I have a liquor license, all hell is going to break loose.
My neighbor even put the following in his petition for the Liquor License, “Amina Restaurant and Lounge would be bringing economic obsoletion to the community. In the meeting with Olde City District, he stated that my business will make the developers want to stop developing in that area. He said more new businesses will not want to move to Olde City due to my business (Amina Restaurant and Lounge) being there.” And, to top all of this off, Amina’s was recently vandalized. With all of the inconveniences and the vandalism, it seems like someone or something does not want Amina’s at 104 Chestnut.
Through all of this, businesswoman Felicia Wilson is standing strong. She says she looks forward to coming back to the SCOOP at the appropriate time in the Fall of 2021 to announce the exact date of her grand opening.
I know the neighbor who has been placing these ridiculous requirements on Amina’s Restaurant. I have been trying to track him down to get comments from him about why he appears to be trying to make it extremely difficult for Felicia Wilson’s new restaurant to open in Olde City.
To learn more about Amina Restaurant and Lounge, read the June edition of SCOOP/Vizion, a newspaper credited for and about Black Businesses.
